I have the day off today, so I wanted to throw around a few thoughts on where things are at with the football program. I admittedly don’t have the time to go anywhere nearly as in-depth on the gameday Xs and Os as I did when I was on staff, but I did spend 5 years around Kliff’s program and obviously have been following from afar this year. That being said, here goes:
-Tech’s lost to the four best teams in the Big 12 this year (OU, WVU, ISU, UT) and has gone wire-to-wire with all four teams. And I think that makes it more painful. You’ve played with everybody in the league and just can’t quite make the few more plays required to beat those teams.
-Anyone who says this program hasn’t taken steps forward this year is wrong. Special teams are miles better and have mostly been a strength. The defense has been consistently better overall, particularly in their tackling and physicality. This team also fights their asses off. There’s a noticeable resiliency to this team, and that’s new. To have had such a revolving door at QB due to injuries and still be in one-score games with the league’s best week in and out certainly impresses me.
-But there are obviously big issues. First and foremost for me is the total disappearance of the running game we saw through the first quarter of the season. It’s nowhere to be found. That starts with this offensive line, who I think has gotten consistently worse as the year has marched on. I’d guess some of this has to do with opposing coaches figuring out your O-line’s weaknesses and exploiting them more and more as the year goes on, but the lack of physicality up front with an experienced returning unit is concerning.
-The other biggest issue is your starting quarterback. With a healthy Bowman, I think Tech beats OU and Texas, currently sitting at 7-3 with two very winnable games left on the schedule, and everybody is sunshine and rainbows. But you didn’t have healthy Bowman. You had Duffey, whose erratic play is something I expected from day one. You get the big fun plays and the big dumb plays both, and when you can’t run the ball consistently, the chances that Duffey will make a big mistake increase exponentially.
-Also, Kliff doesn’t really have a choice but to play Duffey. With Carter hobbled most of the year, way behind on reps, and Bowman out, you’re hamstrung. But, again, if you could run the ball, it would help a TON.
-For as great as Antoine Wesley has been, which he’s been All-American good, the majority of the rest of the WR corps has been pretty average. Yes, High has been consistent and solid, but I don’t think he’s an elite interior receiver. Vasher doesn’t play consistently enough for his talent level. And the rest of the group just hasn’t contributed enough. This offense is a humming death machine when the ball is spread out to 4-5 receivers. It’s less effective when you’re leaning on one or two guys like you do this year.
-Regardless of the optics, this season is unfortunately history repeating itself during Kingsbury’s tenure: Hot, fun starts with a lot of potential and hope that crumble into middling finishes. Its been the standard way that seasons have played out, and this year won’t be any different unfortunately. A 7-5 finish is best cast scenario, and once again, you won’t have beaten a conference opponent worth a darn in Lubbock.
-Which that’s something I just don’t understand, but it’s been a constant. Kingsbury’s teams almost always play better away from Lubbock than they do in it.
-It’s hard for me explain how I feel about the state of the program. I see legitimate progress this year in a number of areas, encouraging signs of improvement, but you still just can’t seem to get over the hump. Is this team the one that was a QB injury away from being 9-3 and turning the corner under Kingsbury? I think you can certainly argue it.
-But I also think you can argue that there have been critical failures. Despite having a veteran core of players back on the O-Line and bringing in a new run game guru, the running game has been mostly toothless since the WVU game and is a huge disappointment. The defense has been unable to replicate their turnover production from 2017. The team is 82nd in the country in turnover margin and has lost at least three games directly because of turnover issues.
-And again, you just aren’t beating anybody that’s any good. Houston is a good W, but you haven’t beaten a single team of any merit in the Big 12 once again. That’s clearly what’s wearing on the fan base more than anything else in my eyes. The optics no longer matter. It’s year six, and people want to see wins of merit, particularly at home. They don’t care how you get those wins as long as you get them, either. At the end of the day, it comes down to nothing more than Ws and Ls, and you haven’t picked up any Ws this year that check off any boxes.
-I don’t know what’s going to happen these last two weeks, and I don’t know what direction things go in with Kingsbury. But I think you have to sit here and ask yourself if you’ve seen things this year that show you there’s a payoff coming. Again, I do see some good things I really like. But I see some things that are more of the same. I see a defense that losses critical captains and playmakers. I also see an offense that should be pretty dang good in 2019. It’s a pickle, and one I’m glad I don’t have to make a decision about.
-Tech’s lost to the four best teams in the Big 12 this year (OU, WVU, ISU, UT) and has gone wire-to-wire with all four teams. And I think that makes it more painful. You’ve played with everybody in the league and just can’t quite make the few more plays required to beat those teams.
-Anyone who says this program hasn’t taken steps forward this year is wrong. Special teams are miles better and have mostly been a strength. The defense has been consistently better overall, particularly in their tackling and physicality. This team also fights their asses off. There’s a noticeable resiliency to this team, and that’s new. To have had such a revolving door at QB due to injuries and still be in one-score games with the league’s best week in and out certainly impresses me.
-But there are obviously big issues. First and foremost for me is the total disappearance of the running game we saw through the first quarter of the season. It’s nowhere to be found. That starts with this offensive line, who I think has gotten consistently worse as the year has marched on. I’d guess some of this has to do with opposing coaches figuring out your O-line’s weaknesses and exploiting them more and more as the year goes on, but the lack of physicality up front with an experienced returning unit is concerning.
-The other biggest issue is your starting quarterback. With a healthy Bowman, I think Tech beats OU and Texas, currently sitting at 7-3 with two very winnable games left on the schedule, and everybody is sunshine and rainbows. But you didn’t have healthy Bowman. You had Duffey, whose erratic play is something I expected from day one. You get the big fun plays and the big dumb plays both, and when you can’t run the ball consistently, the chances that Duffey will make a big mistake increase exponentially.
-Also, Kliff doesn’t really have a choice but to play Duffey. With Carter hobbled most of the year, way behind on reps, and Bowman out, you’re hamstrung. But, again, if you could run the ball, it would help a TON.
-For as great as Antoine Wesley has been, which he’s been All-American good, the majority of the rest of the WR corps has been pretty average. Yes, High has been consistent and solid, but I don’t think he’s an elite interior receiver. Vasher doesn’t play consistently enough for his talent level. And the rest of the group just hasn’t contributed enough. This offense is a humming death machine when the ball is spread out to 4-5 receivers. It’s less effective when you’re leaning on one or two guys like you do this year.
-Regardless of the optics, this season is unfortunately history repeating itself during Kingsbury’s tenure: Hot, fun starts with a lot of potential and hope that crumble into middling finishes. Its been the standard way that seasons have played out, and this year won’t be any different unfortunately. A 7-5 finish is best cast scenario, and once again, you won’t have beaten a conference opponent worth a darn in Lubbock.
-Which that’s something I just don’t understand, but it’s been a constant. Kingsbury’s teams almost always play better away from Lubbock than they do in it.
-It’s hard for me explain how I feel about the state of the program. I see legitimate progress this year in a number of areas, encouraging signs of improvement, but you still just can’t seem to get over the hump. Is this team the one that was a QB injury away from being 9-3 and turning the corner under Kingsbury? I think you can certainly argue it.
-But I also think you can argue that there have been critical failures. Despite having a veteran core of players back on the O-Line and bringing in a new run game guru, the running game has been mostly toothless since the WVU game and is a huge disappointment. The defense has been unable to replicate their turnover production from 2017. The team is 82nd in the country in turnover margin and has lost at least three games directly because of turnover issues.
-And again, you just aren’t beating anybody that’s any good. Houston is a good W, but you haven’t beaten a single team of any merit in the Big 12 once again. That’s clearly what’s wearing on the fan base more than anything else in my eyes. The optics no longer matter. It’s year six, and people want to see wins of merit, particularly at home. They don’t care how you get those wins as long as you get them, either. At the end of the day, it comes down to nothing more than Ws and Ls, and you haven’t picked up any Ws this year that check off any boxes.
-I don’t know what’s going to happen these last two weeks, and I don’t know what direction things go in with Kingsbury. But I think you have to sit here and ask yourself if you’ve seen things this year that show you there’s a payoff coming. Again, I do see some good things I really like. But I see some things that are more of the same. I see a defense that losses critical captains and playmakers. I also see an offense that should be pretty dang good in 2019. It’s a pickle, and one I’m glad I don’t have to make a decision about.
